Babies to senior citizens help Lolly Wolly Doodle grow

Once a week Harper Sink, 4, prepares to be dressed and coiffed for the camera as a model for one of Lexington's fastest-growing companies, Lolly Wolly Doodle.

BY REBEKAH CANSLER MCGEEThe Dispatch

A high-pitched beep and a pop is followed by a bright flash of light. Harper Sink puts her hand on her hip, juts that hip and points her toe, posing for the next round of beeps, pops and flashes. Harper is a model and 4 years old. There's no contract or pay, but once a week the little girl prepares to be dressed, coiffed and indulged as she puts the charm on for the camera as a regular model for one of Lexington's fastest-growing companies, Lolly Wolly Doodle.Lolly Wolly Doodle creates custom children's clothing and sells those garments through social media and its website. The company does not have a retail store but still manages to manufacture and sell about 30,000 items each month. To keep up with this demand and the fact that each outfit is displayed on a live model, the company has a regular schedule of girls and boys filtering through the company's door.Girls just want to have funThe photo shoot space on Piedmont Drive is modest with only a couple of sets. There is a rack of shoes with every size and color to match the signature bright clothing design, and props such as an oversized sun flower and a glittery wand are scattered about. More than 10 new outfits line the racks every day for the girls to model.The photo shoots can range anywhere from 15 minutes to almost an hour. Each little girl poses several different ways in each outfit before trotting to the makeshift dressing room to change.After all is said and done, the girls choose one of the new outfits to take home and an item from the prize box. "(Natalie's) closet is not lacking, that's for sure," said Ginger Keever, Natalie's mother.Natalie Keever, 4, has been a part of the Lolly Wolly Doodle family since this past June when a friend of Keever's went to work at the company. Natalie is also a dancer and attends Advance Dance in Arcadia. She is one of the few girls who took modeling a step further by submitting some of the Lolly Wolly Doodle photos to an agency in Wilmington. Natalie now has a one-year contract with the agency for print gigs."I take her to model because she enjoys it. If she didn't enjoy it, we wouldn't be doing it, but she has yet to say anything negative," Keever said."It's so fun!" Natalie added, bouncing in her seat.At the end of every shoot before the last frame, the models are allowed to do a silly pose. Those poses range from funny faces to running in circles. Natalie demonstrated her funny face by sticking out her tongue and going cross-eyed."My teacher saw me on Facebook!" Natalie interjected excitedly.In addition to modeling regularly for Lolly Wolly Doodle, Natalie is the first model to travel out of the state for a photo shoot. She is spending the weekend in Palm Beach, Fla., doing an on-location shoot for Lolly Wolly Doodle's spring line. When it comes to silly posing time, twins Kinley and Kambry Swain and their older sister, Maely Swain, who are acrobatic dancers, like to show off their body-bending moves for the camera."(Modeling) is fun because they have cute clothes. I like to see my pictures, and I like it when people see me on Facebook," said Maely, who is 7 years old and attends Hasty Elementary in Thomasville. Their mother, Heather Swain, owns a dance studio, Pointe South Dance & Tumble in Asheboro."I think as far as dancing and being on stage gives the girls confidence," Swain said. "So does modeling."The twins, Kinley and Kambry, both 5, are as different as oil and water. Kambry is a bundle of energy while Kinley is more reserved."Sometimes you don't hear her (Kinley) talk, but she can strike a pose with the rest of them," Swain said, smiling. And when it comes down to choosing the outfit to take home, Kambry's vibrant personality spills into determination. Kambry chooses her favorite while Kinley lets their mother pick her outfit. Maely asks for their mother's input and then chooses accordingly.It's been over three years since the first Lolly Wolly Doodle photo shoot for the sisters. The girls began modeling before the company had a manufacturing location and even before the online sales moved to Facebook. When owner Brandi Tysinger Temple began creating clothes from her home, she started selling through an eBay store. Swain also had an eBay business, and the brightly colored, vibrant pattern signature of Lolly Wolly Doodle caught her eye. She also noticed that the company was based in Lexington, which surprised her because it wasn't far from her home in Thomasville. Temple and Swain began talking and three months later, Temple asked if her little girls would like to model the clothes for the online sales. Another little girl who's been doing it from almost the birth of the company is Harper Sink. Harper's mother, Mindi Sink, and Temple were friends, and occasionally Temple would call and ask if Sink would be willing to let Harper model the clothes when the company was still located in the garage of Temple's home. So before Harper's first birthday, she was dolled up for Lolly Wolly Doodle, and pictures were snapped. Now Harper can't wait to go to her modeling session."I like getting a lot of different outfits!" Harper said. "She likes it, and she does well at it," Sink added.Harper, a dancer for CrossMovement Dance, is all business when it is needed but when it comes to free styling, she becomes creative. Some days it is as tame as posing with a large flower prop and just dancing to pretending to swim and, one morning, even pretending to swat flies. Modeling used to be a random phone call just days before the photo shoot, but now the company has grown so much the girls each have a weekly appointment."We have been so blessed," Temple said. "God's hand is in the whole business.Moving from bread maker to bread winnerHer days were filled with making lunches, driving children to school and being the typical stay-at-home mom when one decision began to turn her world upside down. Temple's husband, Will Temple, purchased a sewing machine for Mother's Day in 2006 so she could make clothing for their daughters, Eva Bella and Vivian. The couple also has two sons, Kade and Clay."After Bella was born, I thought I wanted to do the stay-at-home mom thing, but I had too much energy. (Making their clothes) gave me a purpose," Brandi Temple said. At first, Temple began putting the additional dresses on eBay just to make some extra money. During the same time frame, her husband's business in the heavy equipment industry wasn't doing as well, so Temple's income began compensating for the revenue loss. After moving the sales to Facebook, the popularity grew exponentially."The move was simultaneous with his business tanking, so we knew that we were at a point he was facing a layoff. That's when we said, 'OK, let's just make this work. We are going to switch roles. You're going to be the stay-at-home dad, and I'll do the business,'" Temple said. Lolly Wolly Doodle grew out of a hobby and passion but that soon transformed into an obsession. The business that started in the garage moved to its first facility on Leonard Road. Since that time it has outgrown the first building, moved to its location on Piedmont Drive and is once again looking for additional warehouse space in Davidson County. "Once we hired our first couple of people, it became so mission driven because the jobs made such an impact on people's lives," Temple said.Employment becomes paramountSandra Tussey was one of those employees. Almost four years ago now, Tussey lost her job working in a nursing home. She struggled to find work and eventually lost her car due to financial reasons. Her house was at risk next, but Temple's offer of employment working in quality control saved the dwelling in the nick of time. "This job has meant a lot to me. It helped me get on the right track. She (Temple) has helped so many people and continues to do it every day," Tussey said while she snipped stray threads, ironed and folded the day's clothing creations. Her co-worker, Daisy Little, also had a bit of a financial hill to climb. Her husband, John Wayne Little, became sick, and medical bills began piling up because of the medication costs that Medicare doesn't cover."We had to find a way to pay for the medication he needed," Daisy Little explained.Little is now in a better financial place and has cut her hours back to part time. She works in the quality control department alongside Tussey. "Once I heard the stories and realized the impact, I made my goal to employ as many people I could," Temple said. "That goal really took over more than sales. It's funny because they won't let me go out front anymore because when people are filling out applications I would want to help them."For a long time, I made up positions," she added, laughing. The company has grown to the point that Temple doesn't know every employee, which she said feels odd to walk through her business, see a new hire and not know who they are. Lolly Wolly Doodle now employees over 120 people, and the company's Facebook page hit half a million likes before the end of February. The business model also went from making a little extra money for the family to creating over 30,000 garments monthly and drawing the attention of high-profile investors such as Andrew Fine, director at Michael Kors. "The hardest part for me is the fact not everyone is a good fit. The other fact is realizing that happy balance of growing and succeeding but making sure we're not growing too fast or spending too much. It's not just my family and 'what would we do if this failed?' but truly, I go to bed thinking about 120 families if something should happen," Temple said. Sleeping is not an optionBut even through all the expansion, Temple said staying in Davidson County is important. The Central Davidson High School graduate said when she was just out of high school, she dreamed of life outside of a small town but that desire has changed, and she has no plans to leave Davidson County."I want to give back to the community in which I was raised," Temple explained. The company will expand in the next couple of months to include a large warehouse facility. Temple is looking only within a mile radius of her location on Piedmont Drive. "This (Lolly Wolly Doodle) is my baby, and right now I'm raising it to be the person and the company it should be," Temple said. "Most nights I don't sleep a lot. The other night an idea hit me about 2 in the morning, and I stayed up to 3 a.m. working on it then I went to sleep and got up at 6 a.m. I tell Will (Temple), 'I'll sleep when I'm dead.'"Rebekah Cansler McGee can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 228, or at rebekah.mcgee@the-dispatch.com.